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Instastyle: Curate Your Life, Create Stunning Photos, and Elevate Your Instagram Influence

Tessa Barton

3.73 · Rating details · 240 ratings · 53 reviews

Gain Instagram followers, grow your personal brand, and influence others with your authentic personality, beautiful photography, and stunningly curated grid.

Instagram is the place where trends break, tastes are made, and brands are launched. Plus it's packed with insightful analytics and handy business tools to help you elevate your social media presence to the next level. ...more

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Paperback, 192 pages

Published October 23rd 2018 by Alpha Books

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Art Published in Year: 2018

42 books — 3 voters

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· 240 ratings · 53 reviews

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Nov 18, 2018 abigailscupoftea rated it it was amazing

I picked this up on a whim and I’m so glad I did! Not only is this book breathtakingly beautiful, but it’s super helpful too! I learned so many tips and tricks for my bookstagram account. Tezza describes her grid as her personal magazine and storybook and I love that! I’m seeing things from a fresh perspective and I’m feeling so inspired! From photography to editing to telling your authentic story, Tezza shares all you need to know about the Instagram industry. I highly recommend this to any soc ...more

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Nov 28, 2018 Crista Lash rated it liked it

I wanted to like this book because the author has a beautiful Instagram page. I really wanted to like it.

Pretentious is a word I would use to describe the book. It encourages you get a professional photographer and an agent to build your business on Instagram and to me it seems as though it encourages people to be inauthentic.

What has Instagram become these days? That is the question that comes to mind after reading this book.

Anyway, I wouldn’t recommend reading this book unless you are brand ...more

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Oct 23, 2018 Alicia Bayer rated it liked it

I love using Instagram as a way to connect with others and capture moments, and I was excited to read this book in order to do that better. In some ways, it more than delivered. The author gives lots of basic tips on how to take better pictures and use Instagram. It's also filled with lots of inspirational photos to give you an idea of how great photos can be.

That said, the book missed the mark for me in a lot of ways too. I didn't realize from the title that this book is primarily instructions I love using Instagram as a way to connect with others and capture moments, and I was excited to read this book in order to do that better. In some ways, it more than delivered. The author gives lots of basic tips on how to take better pictures and use Instagram. It's also filled with lots of inspirational photos to give you an idea of how great photos can be.

That said, the book missed the mark for me in a lot of ways too. I didn't realize from the title that this book is primarily instructions for how to make a living on IG, and what a full time job that is. Tessa Barton writes, "Truth be told, I'm never not working. I'm constantly planning posts, gathering inspiration, scouting locations, styling outfits , and meeting with brands. It's a 24/7 job." She says from the beginning that you need a partner or a team and that it's nearly impossible to be successful on IG on your own. Even the other "influencers" featured in this book talk about their staff. One mommy influencer talks about spending hours every night at the office and scheduling it for 7 to midnight so her kids are asleep for most of it. I guess I'm naive, but I wouldn't look at some smiling young mom on IG and think that she has a staff and an office to create this seemingly perfect little family life. It's all a carefully curated illusion with a ton of work by multiple people behind it.

I have no desire to be an "influencer." Even the name turns me off. I don't want to convince people to do anything or buy anything, or to set myself up as better than them and as something perfect to aspire to. I really just wanted good ideas on how to take better pictures, edit them better, and make the most out of IG as a regular person.

I was also hoping for more information on how to edit pictures to make them look great, but the author frequently talks about using her expensive presets that she sells on her web site to make her pictures look better. Even my teenagers have given me advice like to subtly turn up the brightness, contrast and saturation to instantly improve pictures. I know that tips like that won't work for influencers with a million followers, but information like that would help regular people who just want to post better pictures. How many of us could really make a living traveling the world and posting pictures on Instagram, after all? Especially if we're not 20-something, tall, skinny, beautiful and blonde, which is what every influencer she features in the book seems to be.

Pretty soon into this book, I realized that I would honestly hate to do this for a living. It seems artificial, exhausting and like living a full time life as an ad campaign. I use my IG account for a wide range of things, all of which are part of my life and not me as a brand. There are pictures of our 5 kids, pictures of recipes I make that I plan to post to our family blog, homeschooling shots, foraging shots, quick images of crazy weather or beautiful scenes or fun adventures or things that did well in the garden. I like to try to make my photos attractive, but that involves 30 seconds of tweaking and picking a nice filter. I had hoped to get some helpful advice for stepping that up a notch, but I am just not Tessa's target audience. If I want to take a nice picture of acorn flour mini donuts, I'm going to have to just wing it the way I have been, because I'm not going to spend 6 hours with light boxes and 17 props in the correct colors and then edit it and add presets and then adjust them, too. I want Instagram to record my life, not be my life.

If you are looking to make it big on Instagram and devote your life to "building a brand" then this will probably be a great guide. It's also got lots of good basic information and an interesting peek into this world that appears so beautiful and effortless from the outside but that I realize now is actually so contrived and fictional. Ultimately, I felt tired and a little depressed reading the book instead of inspired and motivated. Your mileage may vary.

I was able to read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review. ...more

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Feb 06, 2019 Courtney (bookplaces) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019

InstaStyle was a beautiful book that really helped me to connect the creative side of taking photos with the strategy of grid planning. I have been in a creative rut with my Bookstagram account for some time without knowing how to really create a cohesive account. I enjoy structure and this read provided me with tools that I plan to use to combine structure and creativity on my Bookstagram feed. I picked this up after reading a review on Instagram by @abigialscupoftea and am happy that I did! Th ...more

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Jul 09, 2020 Denise Wilbanks | This Is My Everybody rated it really liked it

Shelves: business, social-media, entrepreneur

BOOK REVIEW: InstaStyle: Curate Your Life, Create Stunning Photos, and Elevate Your Instagram Influence by Tezza (Tessa Barton)

Genre: Business Book… With a focus on photography and social media tips for Instagram

A quick read with quick concise tips on upping your Instagram game.

I found Tezza's brand and style to be completely different from mine. However I found her tips to be absolutely on-point and could be easily adapted to any brand and style.

I especially loved the tips on:

• Grid design

• Ta ...more

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Jun 26, 2020 Sophia Comiso rated it it was amazing

I really loved this book! It was full of helpful tips to growing an Instagram, taking pictures, guided you through the terminology, and was very entertaining. Even though the book was full of information it was enjoyable to read and kept my interest.

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Aug 08, 2018 Literary Soirée rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, netgalley-review, business, art-photography

Snatched up INSTASTYLE on NetGalley as soon as I saw it as I’m interested in expanding my online presence to this visual star of social media.

So glad I did, as this informative guide has the 411 I’ve been looking for. Learned that it’s the platform where brands gain traction and trends develop. Also, Instagram has loads of helpful analytics and biz tools to gauge social media success and advance it to the next level.

Author Tessa Barton (@tezzamb) and other successful Instagram influencers share ...more

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Jan 06, 2019 Mandi Young rated it liked it

I wanted to like this book a lot more. And parts of it I found very valuable for growing my business on social media. The challenge was the book seemed to not be sure of it's audience. One minute it's going over the absolute basics of the platform, and posting your first nine photos. Then it's getting into sponsored posts, and other advice that really only applies to someone with a larger following. The book is beautifully crafted much like the authors Instagram, but I think the book would have ...more

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Jul 02, 2018 Jenny Houle rated it really liked it

A great book for those looking to use Instagram as a professional medium, but also for those just looking to learn to do better photo editing/photo shooting. There's advice across the board of how to get inspired and how to get your profile out there more, and also down to the tiny details of every day editing.

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Feb 06, 2019 January Gray rated it it was ok

It was okay and guess it was helpful, but you can find even more specific information on how to do these things for free online without buying this book.

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Apr 11, 2020 Alina Malina rated it really liked it

Great book for beginners who want to get some tips and inspiration

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Jan 22, 2020 Sarah rated it really liked it

Great thorough introduction to Instagram, including photography tips and app recommendations.
Obviously written from her own perspective for Instagramming in her own style, but gives value nonetheless.

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Jul 31, 2018 Amy rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, arc, read-in-2018

InstaStyle by Tezza MB is going to be a hit with a lot of people. It hands you the keys to creating an aesthetically pleasing, well-branded, focused and influential instagram account, which you can set up for monetization of your online efforts.

If this is what I wanted to do with my instagram, I would have been thrilled myself. It's a beautifully produced book, containing stunning photography and streamlined how-tos on everything from finding inspiration, developing narratives, fostering engage InstaStyle by Tezza MB is going to be a hit with a lot of people. It hands you the keys to creating an aesthetically pleasing, well-branded, focused and influential instagram account, which you can set up for monetization of your online efforts.

If this is what I wanted to do with my instagram, I would have been thrilled myself. It's a beautifully produced book, containing stunning photography and streamlined how-tos on everything from finding inspiration, developing narratives, fostering engagement, and editing images. Additionally, it provides niche-specific advice, including lifestyle, fashion, travel, food, beauty, family, health & fitness, interior design, and flat lays & products.

This book just isn't written for a person like me, who already has a full-time job and only wants to use social media as a creative outlet and a way to connect with like-minded people. InstaStyle makes it abundantly clear that if you wish to develop an account like Tezza's, it's going to require a lot of work:

"Gotta work for it: Truth be told, I'm never not working. I'm constantly planning posts, gathering inspiration, scouting locations, styling outfits , and meeting with brands. It's a 24/7 job. Granted, it's a pretty dang good 24/7 job, but it really can be exhausting. It's important to know that before jumping in. It takes pushing yourself every day to come up with something new and finding ways to stand out and be different." ~ Tezza MB

Clearly, it's not for dilettantes like me! Recognizing that I'm not the target audience doesn't mean I'm going to dismiss the book as a bad one. It's not bad at all. In fact, I think it will be an excellent resource for a lot of people. If you're like me, however, and want something that encourages playfulness and experimentation, then you might want to save your precious book money for something else.

This book also promotes an aspect of Instagram that I find off-putting: it's just too sleek and polished. The images show glamorous skinny people doing glamorous things using fancy products and basically living a life I'll never have. It can be downright depressing to look at too much stuff like this online. I'll look, from time to time, because it's hard to turn away from something so perfect that's begging for my attention, but I prefer to follow accounts that are a little rougher around the edges and show people I can relate to doing regular people stuff...like petting a fat cat on the belly (it's a trap!), or eating a tub of ice cream while binge-watching the 100 on Netflix.

I do appreciate Tezza's frequent reminders to keep your expectations realistic, practice positive self-talk, and remain authentic:

"Don't lose sight of the goal. Let your experiences shape your life, and don't get caught up in doing things for the sake of the 'gram. They're not authentic when they become a chore." ~ Tezza MB

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own. ...more

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Oct 08, 2019 Elizabeth rated it it was ok

Personally, I think that anyone who uses the words "influencer" and "authentic" in the same sentence is lying, either to themselves or to you. Their single job, if you want to call it that, is to literally influence you into buying more things you don't need, but which the brands/companies have paid this authentic soul to tell you about.

In my day, we didn't call those people influencers, we called them corporate shills. I'm just saying.

That said, the advice in this book is to be authentic. And ...more

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Nov 28, 2018 Madeline Jefferies rated it liked it

This book had a lot of great tips, but the way it was written was very redundant. Barton kept making the same points over and over, and would explain them at different lengths each time. Because of this, I found myself saying "Yeah, yeah, you said that already," and zoning out.
The way it was written wasn't very cohesive, and I wish it was a little more organized, explaining each tip thoroughly before heading on to the next one. But overall, it does have some pretty great tips.
NOTE: This book i ...more

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Dec 30, 2018 Anovelqueen rated it really liked it

Very informative book on Instagram and how to maximize your potential on the social media site.

The color photos are beautiful and the author does give helpful pointers on the nuances of Instagram and how to take better pictures. It is better suited for someone like a blogger or an "influencer" that has made this a full time profession. Could be a little overwhelming for a lay person. It was very enlightening however to see everything that goes behind taking those "perfect" pictures on Instagram.

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Jul 12, 2018 Liz (Quirky Cat) rated it really liked it

Shelves: art, 2018-reads

I received a copy of InstaStyle through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

InstaStyle is both an art book and a guide book to getting a brand or identity going on Instagram. It covers many different potential focuses for Instagram accounts, like lifestyle, fashion, travel, food, beauty, family, health/fitness, interior design, and products. So it’s likely that no matter what type of account you’re looking to start, you’ll get a good idea of where to go from here.
Personally, I ...more

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Jun 14, 2020 Jordan rated it really liked it

My sister handed me this book today after I was complaining about Instagram. I just don’t get Instagram, and she has been a social media influencer on various platforms (though retired after being doxed & receiving multiple death threats...yeah I don’t know any of us even take the risk of being on social media at all 🤷‍♀️). Anyway, I want to get on Instagram to promote my blog, and I don’t know where to start. This book probably won’t help all that much for me, since I run a book blog and not fa ...more

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Jun 24, 2019 Tim Chmielewski rated it really liked it

Picked a copy of this up in the library as I had not seen it before. Certainly is very thorough in its approach with all the things that you need to consider having their own separate sections.

It does say you can only post to instagram from a mobile device, but then says to use a DSLR to take photos without telling you how to get the photos from your computer onto your phone. There are scripting tools and apps you can use but these are against terms of service.

It also does not mention having to ...more

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Oct 16, 2018 Caffeinated Fae rated it really liked it

When I was browsing NetGalley this book popped up. I have never heard of Tessa Barton but the description sounded interesting and the cover is absolutely beautiful. I had high hopes for this book and it didn't disappoint much.

The pictures are absolutely beautiful. I loved looking at her unique style and the different styles of other Instagram influencers. It was engaging and informative. The information will be great for those wanting to make money from their social media.

There is a little bit ...more

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Aug 17, 2018 Erica rated it it was amazing

I received a copy of InstaStyle through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I was really pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book - my skill level with social media being what it is(novice, at best). Front to back, Instastyle was easy to understand, well-organized, thorough and, yes, inspirational. Now, I'm not going to be starting my own Instagram anytime soon, but I surely do feel that I could - that's how comfortable Tezza MB's book made me feel with the technology ...more

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Dec 31, 2019 Kristi rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, easy-read

I enjoyed reading this book but I really enjoyed looking at the pictures. I do not follow the author on Instagram but I can understand why she has so many followers. She definitely has learned the branding part of Instagram and shares her knowledge through this book. I would recommend this book for someone just trying to get familiar with all the ins and outs of Instagram but also to people who want to run a business on Instagram.

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Jan 06, 2020 Kati Reak rated it liked it

Shelves: business

Instastyle is a nice reminder to the ins and outs of Instagram. I don't feel like there was anything mind-blowing in the book, and I do think if you use the platform at all, you probably know most of the items discussed in this book. The outline is clean and organized, and I was able to make a couple of notes on things I need to keep in mind for my business Instagram. If anything, the book is very visually pleasing with gorgeous photos from front to back.

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Apr 29, 2020 Ietrio rated it did not like it

Shelves: junk

There is no substance here. Just another blonde who wants to hit the next viewership mark on Instagram. The popularity is rooted not in some method, but in publishing a young and rather attractive woman with a lot of skin exposed. The book is the woman's pictures, links to her friends, and a lot of fluff. So for "create stunning photos" you have to know how much a nameless source valuates Instagram, what DM means and more trivia that is vaguely Instagram related.

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Feb 21, 2019 Lula McCuela rated it really liked it

Very informative, and written in a way that is easy to understand and engaging. Tessa's personality really comes out through this book, and it really does feel like she's a down-to-earth, funny person in real life.

Perhaps there could've been some more varied recommendations for apps, but I feel that Instastyle overall covered the necessary bases for being/becoming an Instagram influencer.

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Dec 01, 2019 Tanisha Inman rated it liked it

The pictures were beautiful but it a book for someone who wants to spend their life creating content not living your life and letting others into that life. If you want to know what Instagram is all about then yes read this book but if you're looking for a way to make Instagram your life you should reconsider.

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Dec 12, 2019 Noell S. rated it liked it

Basics of becoming an Instagram influencer from a current influencer (never heard of her). Pictures are beautifully aesthetic but didn't find much of anything new that I hadn't heard from other influencers. I read the first few chapters but flipped through the others before returning it to the library.

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Jan 16, 2019 Jackie rated it liked it

I didn’t find this book very interesting. It’s beautiful and provides inspiration, but did not provide the advice I was looking for. It seems specifically meant for people who are creating an account to earn a living as an “influencer”.

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Jan 17, 2019 Kristina Bradey rated it liked it

I enjoyed this book, but there was a lot of repetitive tips. I did get some good insights into photography and apps that I’ve downloaded and started using. Overall I am glad I read the book, wish it had been shorter though.

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Mar 27, 2019 Jonii rated it really liked it

A surprisingly useful look at making Instagram work for you, whether casually or for business purposes. It's a surprisingly snob free walk through the jns and outs of the platform and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to up their insta game.

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